Chinese Orange Chicken made with crispy fried chicken covered in an authentic orange sauce. The ultimate Chinese Orange Chicken Recipe which is way better than take-out.
My kids are always begging me to take them to grab Chinese food. They are obsessed with orange chicken but I am never really sure what’s in it….especially if they get it from a drive-thru. I wanted to create a version at home, made from scratch, with only ingredients I can pronounce. It still has the same incredible flavor they love. It’s definitely a win-win in our home.
It is winter time in Arizona which means that the citrus is ripe for the picking. I am surrounded by neighbors who have a plethora of fresh oranges and lemons hanging from their trees. This is the perfect time of year to whip up orange and lemon dishes especially this Chinese Orange Chicken.
This Chinese Orange Chicken is made with boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into bite-size pieces, dredged, and then fried until golden and crispy. The orange sauce is divine! It is a sweet orange sauce made with orange juice, vinegar, garlic, sugar, soy sauce, ginger, red chili flakes, and orange zest. It is both sweet and spicy and full of flavor.
How to make Chinese Orange Chicken at home:
- Start with boneless skinless chicken breast or thighs. Cut into bite-size pieces. Dredge the chicken in whisked eggs and cornstarch/flour mixture until nice and coated. Get these chicken pieces ready for the oil.
- To make your homemade orange sauce, place orange juice, sugar, vinegar, soy sauce, garlic, ginger, and red chili flakes in a small pot and cook over medium-high heat. Add cornstarch and water and cook until thickened. Stir in orange zest.
- Heat oil in a heavy-bottomed pot over medium-high heat. When frying foods, it is so helpful to use a thermometer. Let the oil heat up to 350 degrees. Once the oil is ready, in batches, cook chicken for about 2 minutes until light golden brown. Repeat with remaining chicken.
- Remove from oil and drain on a paper towel-lined plate.
- Toss fried chicken with the sweet orange sauce. Top with grated orange zest and green onions. Serve immediately.
- 4 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts cut into bite-size pieces
- 3 Eggs whisked
- 1/3 cup Cornstarch
- 1/3 cup Flour
- Oil for frying
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- 1 cup Orange Juice
- 1/2 cup Sugar
- 2 Tablespoons Rice Vinegar or White Vinegar
- 2 Tablespoons Soy Sauce use tamari for a gluten-free dish
- 1/4 teaspoon Ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon Garlic Powder or 2 garlic cloves, finely diced
- 1/2 teaspoon Red Chili Flakes
- Orange Zest from 1 orange
- 1 Tablespoon Cornstarch
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- Green Onions
- Orange Zest
- To make orange sauce:
- In a medium pot, add orange juice, sugar, vinegar, soy sauce, ginger, garlic, and red chili flakes. Heat for 3 minutes.
- In a small bowl, whisk 1 Tablespoon of cornstarch with 2 Tablespoons of water to form a paste. Add to orange sauce and whisk together. Continue to cook for 5 minutes, until the mixture begins to thicken. Once the sauce is thickened, remove from heat and add orange zest.
- To make chicken:
- Place flour and cornstarch in a shallow dish or pie plate. Add a pinch of salt. Stir.
- Whisk eggs in shallow dish.
- Dip chicken pieces in egg mixture and then flour mixture. Place on plate.
- Heat 2 -3 inches of oil in a heavy-bottomed pot over medium-high heat. Using a thermometer, watch for it to reach 350 degrees.
- Working in batches, cook several chicken pieces at a time. Cook for 2 - 3 minutes, turning often until golden brown. Place chicken on a paper-towel-lined plate. Repeat.
- Toss chicken with orange sauce. You may reserve some of the sauce to place on rice. Serve it with a sprinkling of green onion and orange zest, if so desired.
This Orange Chicken is going to make you forget take-out. Let me know how it turns out by reaching out on instagram at @modern_honey. Have a great night, my friends!
Yumm … This recipe is wonderful! I will make it for a family Sunday dinner. Thanks so much!
Hi Kim! Thank you! It is perfect for Sunday dinner, for sure.
Just made this last night! It was a HUGE hit with all 5 of my kids! They said it was way better than take out Orange Chicken. They have requested it be put in our permanent rotation. Can’t wait to try some more of your recipes. So happy to have stumbled upon your Instagram page. Thanks so much!
Hi Amanda! I love to hear that! Thank you for taking the time to share that with me. It makes me so happy to hear that your kids loved it too.
Sounds delicious. Were the leftovers good or would you not recommend based on frying?
I and my family LOVED this. I ended up doubling the sauce to go over rice. So happy to have found your site and look forward to seeing more great recipes!
Thank you so much for sharing this recipe. It was pretty straightforward to make and was a hit at the dinner table. The cornstarch/flour mix gave the chicken a good crisp. The sauce had a good balance of tang and sweetness. Will definitely make this again!
Thank you, Michelle! I am so happy that you loved it and it was a hit. I really appreciate you trying my recipe!
This was fantastic! Adding this to the arsenal ❤️
I prepared this delicious recipe with oranges from the tree in our backyard. Will definitely make it again!
I am still giving you five stars but I think I did something wrong. It turned out way too sweet. I also wish I would have seasoned the chicken as it was bland. I am not giving up and will give it another try some day.
We thought it was a little sweet also i added soy sauce to the orange sauce fixed it and now i make this once a week as requested. I also keep extra sauce made up in the fridge for really quick dinner nights. Live love love this.
You can always sprinkle garlic, salt, or any other type of Chinese based spices on your chicken as it frying. That’s what I did. Turned out GREAT!!! (& full of flavor!) Good luck!!! 🙂
OMG! Made it last night when I had nothing in the fridge and the snow was falling. Found chicken in the freezer, had fresh broccoli and actually one orange so I was good to go. I doubled the sauce and so glad I did as it is delicious! Nice and hot the way I like it! Added a small handful of peanuts to my dish but son and husband love it just the way it was. Husband even didn’t complain about the jasmine rice (he’s Irish!). Will make again and again. Thanks, Melissa!
Sauce is banging. Will def make again
We just finished eating this for supper and we will be making it regularly FOR SURE. Hubby loves orange chicken, but has been disappointed with take-out versions and the recipes that use jarred orange marmalade didn’t cut it either. Your recipe has solved our problem and we can use oranges from our backyard. Thanks.
OMG OMG OMG OMG!!!! 💜💜💜I just made this meal!! My family loved it and a friend took a to-go plate😂😂
Soooo good! Family loved this! Made some healthy recipes alternatives with coconut aminos instead of soy sauce and just juiced a orange instead of store bought oj and cut back on the sugar. Served up on some brown rice and steamed veggies. Big win for my family.
Hi,
Was just wondering what kind of oil YOU used for frying.
I used Canola Oil. It worked perfectly.
I made this last week. We all loved it. It will become a regular on the dinner cycle. Tonight I am trying your Fettuccine Alfredo recipe to accompany a ribeye. Thanks for sharing your recipes.
My husband loved it. It was a little bit too gingery for me but that’s because I’m dont really like ginger but overall definitely making it again since it’s so easy.
My husband loved it. It was a little bit too gingery for me but that’s because I’m dont really like ginger but good overall definitely making it again since it’s so easy.
Very delicious recipe. I was greatly surprised at how simple this recipe is, although it requires a moderate amount of steps, for how great this tasted! I do recommend doubling the sauce, my own preference, and I also added a 1/8 tsp of cayenne just to add a little more kick! Would definitely recommend this recipe.
You mentioned 1/4 ginger. Is that powdered ginger or raw ginger? 1/4 tsp correct?
I made this last night and Absolutely loved it! I didn’t have vinegar so I substituted it with Worcestershire sauce and I actually pan fried the chicken in Olive Oil (chicken thighs were in soy sauce over night in fridge) I steamed broccoli, green peppers, onion and carrots and used Jasmine Rice Wow was it delish!! Thank you 😋😋😋😋
Does the orange juice need to be fresh squeezed?
I used regular store bought orange juice and it was fantastic
This was absolutely awesome!! Will make again only without so many red pepper flakes. I doubled the sauce recipe❤️
How many people does this serve?
I’m so glad I stumbled upon this! I grew up in the U.S. and Orange Chicken was always my go to when ordering out. I live in Germany now and crave this on the regular and this isn’t on the menus here. Here it’s all about Peanut and Curry sauce. So I’m never able to satisfy that craving. Until I tried this!!! This hit the spot. Thank you so much!
Orange chicken is on all the menus at a Chinese restaurant. It’s usually my go to wish as well and I have lived in 4 different states and have eaten in all places
Same experience here! My boyfriend and I have been in the UK for a few months and the Chinese here is SEVERELY lacking in orange chicken. But I made this for him and his British family one night when we were craving it and he said it tasted just like my local Chinese restaurant’s orange chicken back home.. and his family had never had it before, but they loved this too!
This was delicious! I didn’t have ginger on hand but put more orange zest and it was great. I’m going to have to keep some ginger so I can whip this up again!
Wonderful recipe! Huge hit in my house!! I also doubled the amount of sauce, I wouldn’t have had enough with my 4 large chicken breasts. Next time I will cut the sugar in half and add honey. It was sweet and the kids loved the sweetness, but I’ll try to cut it a bit.
Better than take out has just the right kick to it kid approved as well very easy to make love it
Amazing recipe! I tried it and it was easy to follow. Everyone loved it! Thank you!
I made the sauce exactly according to the recipe and it came out amazing!! I didn’t fry the chicken, as my boyfriend and I are trying to eat a tad healthier, so I baked the chicken and it came out amazing!! Thanks so much for this!!
It came out delicious
OMG BEST ORANGE CHICKEN EVER 😋
What can I use to substitute cornstarch will love to try this recipe now
OMG! I was craving orange chicken late at night but didnt want to drive to get it from a fast food restaurant. This is the first recipe I stumbled on and it. is. amazing!! I followed the recipe to a T and my whole family loved it. P.S., this was my first time making orange chicken. Thank you for the wonderful recipe!! Also, I found that vegetable cooks well with the chicken as olive oil makes it stick and fall apart. 🙂
I made this tonight since my husband was craving it. This was my first attempt to orange chicken. It was absolutely tasty!!! A few things I tweaked was I doubled the sauce and put alittle less sugar and a tiny bit less powdered ginger. I used minced garlic from a jar. Lastly I used gluten free all purpose flour and gluten free soy sauce. It still came out super yummy! I used the green onions and tons of orange zest into the sauce.
Hi there….Just made THIS!!! My boys wanted Orange Chicken, and it was a hit!!! I doubled the sauce recipe though, because we like alot of sauce on our rice!! It was amazing!! I also added garlic to the chicken as it fried, along with the salt. It turned out wonderful!! A Big YUUUUUMMMMMM from our family!!!!!
This recipe is AMAZING. (My little secret – I used frozen chicken tenders to make it as quick as possible and everyone still raved about it.) I like trying new things, but after the finished product I always say to myself “…Mine does not look like that.” This dish turned out perfectly. I added a bag of sautéed pepper and onion blend and heated/sautéed broccoli to make it go further and that only added to the already delicious and very easy meal. The family wants it weekly – good news for me because it was so simple and healthy (except for yes I know I used frozen chicken.)
We all really enjoyed this, even my 89 year old Mom. It will definitely be on our roster. The only changes I made was to use buttermilk to moisten the chicken instead of the egg mixture, since my teen is allergic to egg, and we didn’t add the chili. Thank you so much for sharing.
We are an allergy family and this recipe was awesome! We used enerG egg replacer, gluten free flour and coconut aminos instead of soy. Still turned out perfect! Great recipe!
Has anyone tried making this in an air fryer? My husband is trying to cut out foods fried in a lot of oil but I’m really craving orange chicken and am hoping this will work in the fryer.